Artificial light at night affects the daily profile of pulse pressure and protein expression in the thoracic aorta of rats.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) disrupts 24-h variability of blood pressure, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are unknown. Therefore, we analysed the daily variability of pulse pressure, the maximum value of acceleration rate of aortic pressure (dP/dt) measured by telemetry and protein expression in the thoracic aorta of normotensive male rats exposed to ALAN (1-2 lx) for 3 weeks. Daily, 24-h variability of pulse pressure and dP/dt was observed during a regular light/dark regimen with higher values during the dark compared to the light phase of the day.